A string of ill-timed injuries have cost Alex Dunbar the chance of being part of a string of trophy wins this season but, fully fit at last, the Scotland centre looks set to reach peak match fitness just as Glasgow Warriors make their push for the Guinness PRO14 title.

A head knock suffered during Scotland’s near miss against the All Blacks in November meant he missed out on being part of the first Scotland team to retain the Hopetoun Cup as a home and away double was completed against Australia’s Wallabies the following weekend.

Worse was to come during a Six Nations which saw the national team claim the inaugural Auld Alliance Trophy against France, then reclaim the Calcutta Cup for the first time in a decade.

In the attritional world of top- flight rugby, however, breaks are both inevitable and an opportunity to improve on conditioning and the 27-year-old knows his club can benefit from his lack of involvement in the international campaign.

“It was just one thing after another,” he said of the early part of 2018.“I picked up a niggle at New Year, head knock in January and then a hamstring after that. It was frustrating at the time, but I feel good now, so I’m looking forward to the business end of the season. 

“This is probably the first time I’ve been fresh going into this part of the year, so I’m looking forward to offering anything I can towards the team. We’ve all got that end goal of getting to the final, so I’ll do whatever’s possible to get to it. 

“I‘ve been working pretty hard with the S&C [strength and conditioning] guys for the last couple of months, putting in a lot of work off the field. At the weekend I felt pretty good, so I’ve just got to keep building that and get a bit more sharpness back in my legs.”

His return to the squad only intensifies competition for places in the Warriors midfield which was already such that Huw Jones, one of Scotland’s players of the season, had been unable to force his way into the match 22 the week before Dunbar made his return for last Friday’s win against Connacht that clinched their place at the top of PRO14 Conference A and a home semi-final.

“We spoke about that, probably the last couple of months, just how all the centres are probably on form,” Dunbar observed. 

“Everyone’s playing well and everyone’s fit, which is a good thing for the squad. When it comes to training we’ve just got to keep pushing each other on, drive the standards within, and then when it comes to the weekend whoever’s got the opportunity they’ve got to go out there and put in a big performance.”

That sort of competition now exists throughout the Warriors squad which should ensure that even though the job has been done in league terms, all those who get an opportunity to play in Ulster in tomorrow’s rearranged PRO14 match, will not been short on motivation as they seek to impress.

However, Dunbar reckons that there was no danger of that being treated as a nothing game since there is a collective awareness that they need to ensure in both this match and when they meet Scottish rivals Edinburgh in the 1872 Challenge Cup decider at Murrayfield the following week, that they are in a winning habit when the play-off matches come around.

“We’re approaching it like any other game . . . we want to go out there and win,” he said. 

“We’ve done our analysis on Ulster, seen a couple of areas that they want to try and attack, so we’ll go into the game with a plan and we’ve got to execute it and get the win.

“Something we’ve spoken about, is, with securing the semi-final at home, trying to get the momentum going in the last two games. It’s a big ask – they’re two physical sides – but that will see us in good stead when it comes to the semi-final.”